Change width of view dynamically doesn't work

Question

I divide the main layout to 4 sections. First part is a image view that has the layout_weight="2" and two linear layouts with the layout_weight="1" for each one. in every linear layouts there are 2 CardViews, oriented horizontally, which I want to show them with equivalent width and height.

I change the width of each CardView like below:

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.home_page);

    CardView cardView1 = (CardView) findViewById(R.id.cardView1);
    ViewGroup.LayoutParams params = cardView1.getLayoutParams();

    params.width = params.height; // params.height == -1 ???
    cardView1.setLayoutParams(params);
}

Do you know whats the problem? Thanks.

Xml file is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:weightSum="4">

<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/userImage"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="0dp"
    android:layout_weight="2"/>

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="0dp"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:weightSum="2">

    <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
        android:id="@+id/cardView1"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        app:cardCornerRadius="4dp"
        android:elevation="5dp"
        app:cardElevation="10dp"
        android:paddingBottom="15dp"
        android:paddingEnd="15dp"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingRight="15dp"
        android:paddingStart="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:layout_margin="15dp"
        app:cardBackgroundColor="?attr/colorButtonNormal">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView1"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="1"/>
    </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

    <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
        xmlns:card_view="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
        android:id="@+id/cardView2"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:elevation="5dp"
        card_view:cardCornerRadius="4dp"
        card_view:cardElevation="10dp"
        android:paddingBottom="15dp"
        android:paddingEnd="15dp"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingRight="15dp"
        android:paddingStart="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:layout_margin="15dp"
        card_view:cardBackgroundColor="?attr/colorButtonNormal">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView2"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="2"/>
    </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>
</LinearLayout>

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="0dp"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:weightSum="2">

    <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
        android:id="@+id/cardView3"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:elevation="5dp"
        app:cardCornerRadius="4dp"
        android:background="@color/cardview_dark_background"
        app:cardBackgroundColor="?attr/colorButtonNormal"
        app:cardElevation="10dp"
        android:paddingBottom="15dp"
        android:paddingEnd="15dp"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingRight="15dp"
        android:paddingStart="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:layout_margin="15dp">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView3"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="3"/>
    </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

    <android.support.v7.widget.CardView
        xmlns:card_view="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
        android:id="@+id/cardView4"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:elevation="5dp"
        card_view:cardCornerRadius="4dp"
        card_view:cardElevation="10dp"
        android:paddingBottom="15dp"
        android:paddingEnd="15dp"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingRight="15dp"
        android:paddingStart="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:layout_margin="15dp"
        card_view:cardBackgroundColor="?attr/colorButtonNormal">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textView4"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="4"/>
    </android.support.v7.widget.CardView>
</LinearLayout>

Nika Kurdadze · Answer 1 · 2017-02-28T16:46:16.700

That happens because the view have not been sized yet, try this :

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    final CardView cardView1 = (CardView) findViewById(R.id.cardView1);

    cardView1.getViewTreeObserver().addOnGlobalLayoutListener(new ViewTreeObserver.OnGlobalLayoutListener() {
        @Override
        public void onGlobalLayout() {
            // remove the layout listener
            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN) {
                cardView1.getViewTreeObserver().removeOnGlobalLayoutListener(this);
            } else {
                cardView1.getViewTreeObserver().removeGlobalOnLayoutListener(this);
            }

            final int height = cardView1.getHeight(); 
            if (height >= 0) {
                // use the linearLayout LayoutParams
                LinearLayout.LayoutParams newParams =  new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(height, height);
                cardView1.setLayoutParams(newParams);
            }
        }
    });
}

the height is calculated correctly, but cardView1.setLayoutParams(params); doesn't work — Ehsan Toghian, Feb 28 '17 at 13:18
Please check the edit and let me know if it makes any difference — Nika Kurdadze, Feb 28 '17 at 13:42

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

you are getting view height to early before it draws on screen. better approach is get the screen width first using observer like this

view.getViewTreeObserver().addOnGlobalLayoutListener(new ViewTreeObserver.OnGlobalLayoutListener() {
            @Override
            public void onGlobalLayout() {
                view.getViewTreeObserver().removeOnGlobalLayoutListener(this);
                view.getWidth(); //width is ready here
                 // assign your image view the same height
                // divide this width by 2 and assign same height width to your cars views 
            }
        });

you may follow this thread for more details

How to set the view.height? The view.setLayoutParam() doesn't work — Ehsan Toghian, Feb 28 '17 at 13:02

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 28 '17 at 12:47

If you want that view to be square Its better to Create it By extending the targeted widget class Like below:

 public  class SquareView extends  View{

    public SquareView(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    @Override
    public void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, widthMeasureSpec);
    }
}

Just assign the width of the view and it will take it as height to form a square.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 28 '17 at 13:00

Try this, you will get to know how to use weight in LinearLayout.

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:weightSum="2">

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="1">

        <!--Place your image view here-->

    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        android:weightSum="2">

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:orientation="horizontal"
            android:weightSum="2">

            <LinearLayout
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1">

                <!--CardView 1st-->

            </LinearLayout>

            <LinearLayout
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1">

                <!--CardView 2nd-->
            </LinearLayout>

        </LinearLayout>

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:orientation="horizontal"
            android:weightSum="2">

            <LinearLayout
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1">

                <!--CardView 3rd-->

            </LinearLayout>

            <LinearLayout
                android:layout_width="0dp"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1">

                <!--CardView 4th-->

            </LinearLayout>

        </LinearLayout>

    </LinearLayout>

</LinearLayout>

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '17 at 13:06

If your problem is to show your view as a Square i.e Width and height should be equal, you can easily manipulate OnMeasure() method of view.
Since your view is CardView, I'm modifying that,

import android.content.Context;
import android.support.v7.widget.CardView;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class SquareCardView extends CardView {

    public SquareCardView(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    public SquareCardView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public SquareCardView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);

        int width = getMeasuredWidth();
        //noinspection SuspiciousNameCombination
        setMeasuredDimension(width, width); // here comes manipulation
    }
}

And you're done :) Define width and height will be equals to width.

Change width of view dynamically doesn't work

5 Answers5